QUICK FACILITATOR GUIDE
PART 1: It's Okay to Be the Boss - Be a Great One!
ONE. The Undermanagement Epidemic
Too many leaders, managers, and supervisors are failing to lead, manage, and supervise.
Undermanagement is costly.
Most problems could be avoided altogether or solved quickly by a highly engaged hands-on manager.
Why are so many managers so hands off? It’s always been hard to manage people. Nowadays, it’s a whole lot harder.
For too long now, the pendulum of management thinking, books, and training has swung so far in exactly the wrong direction, toward hands-off management.
Responsibility without sufficient direction and support is not empowerment. It is downright negligent.
TWO. The Top Seven Management Myths
#1. The Myth of Empowerment: The way to empower people is to leave them alone and let them manage themselves. What is the reality? Almost everybody performs better with more guidance, direction, and support from a more experienced person.
#2. The Myth of Fairness: The way to be fair is to treat everybody the same. The reality is that we are not all winners and what’s truly fair is doing more for some people and less for others, based on what they deserve—based on their performance.
#3. The Myth of the Nice Guy: The only way to be strong is to act like a jerk, but I want to be a “nice guy.” The reality is that lots of managers act like jerks. That doesn’t mean they are strong. Real “nice guy” managers do what it takes to help employees succeed so those employees can deliver great service for customers and earn more rewards for themselves.
#4. The Myth of the Difficult Conversation: Being hands-off is the way to avoid confrontations with employees. The reality is being a weak manager makes these confrontations inevitable, whereas being a strong manager means these confrontations rarely occur, and when they do happen they are not so painful after all.
#5. The Myth of Red Tape: Managers are prevented from being strong because there are many factors beyond their control—red tape, corporate culture, senior management, limited resources. What is the reality? Focus intensely on what you can control and then follow the rules, cut through the red tape, and do all the things you can to be a strong manager that don’t require anyone’s permission.
#6. The Myth of the Natural Leader: I am not “good at” managing. What is the reality? The best managers are people—natural or not—who learn proven techniques, practice those techniques diligently until they become skills, and continue practicing them until they become habits.
#7. The Myth of Time: There’s isn’t enough time to manage people. What is the reality? Since your time is so limited, you definitely don’t have time to not manage people.
THREE. The Hard Realities of Managing People
I know that for most people, being really hands-on requires a fundamental rethinking of the manager’s role and the management relationship. Being strong is about being steady, consistent, patient, and engaged whether things are going right, wrong or average.
Managing people in the real world is very, very difficult, and there are no easy solutions.
The best training you can get is help copying what the most effective managers are actually doing every day. These are the real world in the mundane techniques of strong, highly engaged, hands-on management.
FOUR. It’s Okay to Be the Boss!---Start Learning to Be a Great One!
Be the boss who follows these eight back to basics techniques:
1) Get in the habit of managing people every day.
2) Learn to talk like a performance coach.
3) Take it one person at a time.
4) Make accountability a real process.
5) Make expectations clear every step of the way.
6) Track performance in writing.
7) Solve small problems before they turn into big problems.
8) Do more for some people and less for others (based on what they deserve).